Form for concrete columns.



H. GfWALDMAN.

FORM FOR CONCRETEGOLUMNS.

APPLICATION FILED 00124, 1911.

1 6 531 3 Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

= kw I it in! mvrrnn STATES "PATEN T OFFICE.

HERMAN C. WALDMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

FORM FOR CONCRETE COLUMNS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HERMAN C. WALDMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Forms for Concrete Columns, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to adjustable forms such as are used in the construction ofcon crete buildings.

One object'of my invention is to provide a form for molding concrete and other material that can be set up and taken down quickly and easily.

Another object is to provide a form of the character mentioned that can be adjusted easily and which consists of members arranged in lapped relation, and means for retaining said members in adjusted position.

Another object is to provide an adjustable form that is perfectly tight and which has suflicient strength to prevent it from expanding or bulging outwardly when wet concrete is introduced into same. And still another object is to provide a cap of novel construct-ion for molding a cap on the upper end of a concrete column.

Figure l of the drawings is aside elevational view, partly broken away, of a form constructed in accordance with my invention for molding a concrete column;'Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of part of the form shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail verticalsectional view taken on the line 3'3 of Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the construction of one of the clamping rings which surround the vertical members that constitute the circular wall of the form; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of an adjusted cap form constructed in accordance with my invention for molding a cap on the upper end of a column; Fig. 5? is an en larged detail view of said cap form; Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the cap form, partly broken away so as to more clearly illustrate the construction of same: Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the side brackets of the cap form to which the rings, that form part of said cap form, are connected; and Fig. 8 is a top plan view illustrating the fillers that are used with the plates 11 when the size of the tapered portion of the cap form is varied.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 24, 1911.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914. Serial No. 656,538.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates a plurality of vertically disposed members which are arranged in the manner shown in F 1g. 1 so as to produce a tubularshaped shell or form that is adapted to be A number of bands or ring-shaped clamps B surround the shell which the members A form so as to hold said members in adjusted position and also prevent the shell fro-1n bulging outwardly. Said clamping bands B are so constructed that they can be enlarged or reduced in diameter, and means are provided for detachably connecting the members A to said clamping bands. In the preferred form of my invention as herein shown, each of the clamping bands B is split and consists of two semi-ring-shaped members of channel shape in cross section, which are connected together at one end by a bolt 1, see the middle ring of the form shown in Fig. 1. The opposite ends of said semi-ring' shaped members are lapped,or arranged in superimposed relation, one on top of the other, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4e and at the upper end of Fig. 1, and they are detachably connected together by a fastening means which can be secured and released easily.

The fastening means herein shown consists of an upwardly projectlng bracket 2 on one section or part of the clamping rlng that laps over the other section of the ring, and a bolt 3 in said bracket provided with a hook 3 which enters one of a plurality of holes 4:

in the top flange of the ringsection which the bracket 2 embraces, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4. I do not wish it to be understood, however, that my invention is limlted to elampmg rings of the exact construct1on herein shown for varlous other kinds of adjustable rings or bands could be used for reinforcing the shell and holding the members A in position without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I prefer to construct the clamping rings in the manner above-described, however, because such rings are strong, they can be adjusted easily, and they are inexpensive to manufacture, the

rings being made from commercially-rolled channel iron.

The vertical members A are adjustably connected to the rings B, preferably by means of bolts 5 that pass through said members and through the vertical webs of the rings, and Wing nuts 5 mounted on the threaded ends of the bolts. The bolts 5 pass through holes in the members A which correspond to the cross sectional shape of the shanks of the bolts, and the heads of the bolts fit in countersunk recesses on the inner sides of the members A. The vertical webs of the rings B have horizontally disposed elongated slots 6 through which the bolts 5 pass so as to permit the form or shell to be enlarged or reduced by adjusting the membersArelativelv to each other. If it is clesired' to reduce the diameter of the form, the operator first loosens the wing nuts 5 and the fastening devices 3 and then laps the members A farther. After said members have been adjusted properly the clamping rings are reduced so that they will embrace the form snugly and the hooks on the fastening devices 3 are then inserted in the holes 4 in the rings so as to retain the rings in adjusted position. To enlarge the form the clamping rings are expanded and the members A are adjusted relatively to each other in an obvious manner.

While it is preferable to use sheet metal members A it will, of course, be understood that the shell could be formed from other material, and it is also immaterial so far as my invention is concerned, how many clamping rings B are employed, and how far said rings are spaced apart.

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings I have shown a cap form of novel design which is constructed on the same principle as the column form shown in Fig. 1, said cap form being made up of a number of parts arranged in lapped relation, and means for adjustably connecting said parts to members which retain said parts in position and prevent them from expanding or bulging outwardly when Wet concrete is introduced into the form. The cap form herein shown has an inverted frusto-conical shaped portion formed from a plurality of tapered rings 7 which are arranged in telescopic engagement with each other, the bottom ring being of less diameter than the ring immediately above it whose lower end projects into the upper end of the bottom ring, and so on up to the top of said frusto-conical-shaped portion. The upper portion of the cap form consists of a vertically disposed flange or wall of greater diameter than the frusto-conical-shaped portion and constructed in such a manner that the diameter of same can be varied, and a horizontally disposed plate or support which carries said vertically disposed flange and The members 8 are substantially channel:

shape in cross section, as shown in Fig. 5, and they are arranged in telescopic engagement with each other, as hown in Fig. 6, so as to produce a strong rectangular-shaped frame which can be enlarged or reduced easily, the means herein shown for clamping the members 8 together consisting of bolts 9 which pass through elongated slots 10 in the vertical webs of the members 8. The horizontally disposedsupport on which the members 8 are mounted, is made up of four horizontally disposed plates 11, as shown in Fig. 6, which have overlapping portions, as shown in broken lines in said figure, through which fastening devices 12 pass. The inner edges of the plates 11 are segmental-shaped so as to form a round center opening that conforms to the shape of the upper end ofthe frusto-conicalshaped portion of the form, and the overlapping portions of said plates 11 have intersecting slots 13 formed therein to receive the fastening devices 12, said fastening devices passing through said slots at the points where the slots intersect or cross each other. The fastening devices 12 are preferably used for connecting the members 8 to the plates 11, and, if desired, these same fastening devices can be used for connecting brackets or retaining members 14 to the under sides of the plates so as to carry the frusto-conical-shaped portion of the form. As shown in Figs. 5, 5 and 7, the brackets or retaining members 14 are provided with extensions 14* which project downwardly so as to embrace the telescoped rings 7 of the inverted frusto-conical-shaped portion of the form and thus prevent said rings from expanding or bulging outwardly when the material is introduced into the form, said rings being clamped to the extensions 14. on the members 1e by means of bolts 15 or other suitable fastening devices that pass through elongated slots 16 in the extensions 14, as shown more clearly in Fig. 7. If it is desired to reduce the size of the cap form, the fastening devices which clamp the various parts of same together, are

loosened. The members 8 are then telescoped farther so as to reduce the size of the rectangular-shaped frame which the members 8 form, and the plates 11 are lapped farther so as to reduce the size of of less diameter to be arranged in operative position at the lower end of the frusto-conical-shaped portion of the form. In View of the fact that the curved segmental-shaped edges of the plates 11 are of a different radius than the smaller rings 7 of the frustoconical-shaped portion of the form, the center opening in the plates 11 will not conform exactly to the top ring 7 when the size of the form is reduced but the variation is so slight that small fillers 20 can be laid upon the plates 11, as shown in Fig. 8, so as to fill up the slight gaps or spaces between the top ring and the edges of the center opening in the plates 11. If it is desired to increase the size of the cap form the parts 8 and 11 are moved in the opposite direction and the bottom ring 7 is removed so that the remaining rings 7 can be moved downwardly and thus permit a ring of greater diameter to be arranged in operative position at the upper end of the frustoconical-shaped portion, the spaces or gaps between the top ring and the center opening in the plates 11 being closed by fillers 20 or any other suitable means, as previously described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced a form for molding concrete and other materials which can be adjusted easily so as to enable objects of difierent diameters to be molded. The form can be erected and taken down quickly and easily, and when it is set up it is perfectly tight and is strong-enough to successfully withstand great pressure in a direction tending to bulge the form outwardly, thus forming a very ellicient form for molding a heavy wet mass such as concrete.

I do not wishit to be understood that my invention is limited to a column form of circular shape in cross section or to a cap form provided with afrusto-conical-shaped portion for the particular cross sectional shape of both forms is immaterial so far as my broad idea is concerned.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A hollow form adapted to have material introduced into same and composed of a plurality of members whose edge portions are lapped, devices arranged outside of said members so as to hold them in adjusted position and prevent outward movement of same, and means passing through said devices and through each of said member for adjustably connecting said members and devices together.

2. A cap form for the purpose described having an adjustable tapered portion into which the material is introduced, said portion being composed of a plurality of tapered sections of difi'erent diameters arranged in telescopic engagement with each other, and a vertically disposed wall or flange arranged above said tapered portion and composed of members which are connected together in such a manner that the size of the space inclosed by said flange can be varied.

3. A cap form for the purpose described consisting of a horizontally disposed supporting means, a flange rising vertically from said horizontally disposed supporting means and formed from members that are adjustably connected together, and an adjustable hollow portion arranged on the under side of said supporting means into which the material is introduced.

4:. A cap form for the purpose described consisting of a supporting means, an adjustable flange arranged on the upper side of said means and composed of a plurality of members arranged in telescopic engagement with each other in such a manner that the size of the space inclosed by the flange can be varied, and a hollow portion on the under side of the supporting means into which the material is introduced, said hollow portion being composed of rings arranged in telescopic engagement with each other.

5. A cap form for the purpose described consisting of a horizontally disposed supporting portion, an adjustable rectangularshaped flange arranged on the upper side of same to form a retaining wall for the material on said horizontally disposed supporting portion, and an adjustable hollow frusto-conical-shaped portion arranged on the under side of said supporting portion.

6. A cap form that is adapted to be filled with material being molded, said form consisting of a horizontally disposed supporting means provided with a central opening and consisting of sections which have overlapping portions, means which connect said sections together and permit them to be adjusted relatively to each other to vary the size of said central opening, an adjustable flange on the upper side of said supporting means that is detachably connected to the same, and a tapered portion on the under side of said supporting means composed of tapered rings that are arranged in telescopic engagement with each other.

7. A cap form that is adapted to be filled with material that can be molded, said form comprising a horizontally disposed supporting ortion provided with a central opening and made up of a number of lapped plates, means for clamping said plates together, a flange or vertical wall on the upper side of said plates composed of angle-shaped members arranged in telescopic engagement with each other and adjustably connected together, a frusto-conical-shaped portion on the under side of said plates composed of tapered rings of different diameters arranged in telescopic engagement With each other and means on the under side of said plates for carrying said rings.

8. A form for molding caps on concrete columns comprising an adjustable tapered portion adapted to be arranged at the upper end of a column form, a horizontally disposed portion arranged above said tapered portion, and an adjustable flange ar- 10 ranged above said horizontally disposed portion and adjustably connected to same to form a vertically disposed retaining Wall for the material being molded.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses, this twentieth day of October 1911.

HERMAN G. WALDMAN.

Witnesses lVnLLs L. CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. t 

